Mannequins and Marionettes: Chapter 15
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DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
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Sunday – 12:55 p.m., April 1, 2012, back at the San Francisco Chinese Hospital in Chinatown
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"Here! Next to me! Now!" Kate Beckett barks at Dr. Chen, who is still standing back as the orderlies continue to restrain a frightened Richard Castle. Something about the edge in her voice, and the look in her eyes tells the good doctor that this is no woman to argue with at the moment. She takes four quick steps and is bedside in seconds.
"Re-start the meds, now!" Kate orders again, her voice probably more forceful than she intends. Then again, perhaps not. Instinctively, Kate realizes that she doesn't have time to explain what is happening to the man she loves. She doesn't have time to – for a second time – explain why they need to sedate him. She doesn't have the time because he doesn't have the time.
"Any minute, someone can say something, or he will hear or see something that triggers another relapse, and we can't afford that," she thinks to herself as she finds herself moving around the bed, to stand next to Dr. Chen. She places her hand inside Castle's hand once again.
"Do it, Doctor," she repeats. "Don't make me say it again," she eyes the doctor narrowly. Getting a glimpse of Beckett's seriousness, the doctor makes a few inputs on the IV monitor. She then glances over, ensuring that the IV itself has not come out of the patient's hand during the commotion. Satisfied that everything is in place, she puts her finger on the button, and looks questioningly at Kate Beckett one last time.
Kate nods her head, then turns away, her attentions now firmly back on Richard Castle.
"Sleep babe," she coos to him. "I know this doesn't make sense. I know you're frightened. But you trust me, don't you?"
She stuns herself with her question, with her own words. With all that has happened since her move to the Bay Area, they are still less than ten months from her betrayal of him back in New York City. Sure, things have been going well. They have expressed their love. They have committed to this, in their own roundabout way. But the proof?
Is there really trust?
Can she really expect or hope for such trust from this man after their years of history – the last four months notwithstanding?
"I trust you," he tells her through tearing and fearful eyes. "Always."
She nods her head, telling herself she doesn't deserve this man as her own tears begin to fall down her cheeks. Seconds later, she sees his eyes begin to droop then roll. She continues holding his hand for another thirty seconds after he falls back into sedation, her eyes never leaving his now peaceful face. Suddenly, she pulls her hand away from his. She turns to Dr. Chen who still stands next to her, next to the IV stand. In one fluid motion, her fingers from her left hand are around the doctor's slim neck.
"Now talk!" she orders. "What in the hell just happened here?!"
As she talks, one of the orderlies moves toward her. It is a natural motion on his part, moving to protect the good doctor. He completely underestimates the mindset – and resolve – of the woman accosting Dr. Chen. Kate sees the movement, of course. Tightening her grip on the doctor's neck, she smoothly moves into a slight squatting position, pulling Dr. Chen down with her. She quickly retrieves her weapon from her ankle holster beneath her slacks, then rises up to a standing position.
"Alexis, close the door, and stand guard," she firmly tells Castle's daughter. Alexis – without hesitation – walks quickly toward the door and closes it. She stays there, as ordered. She recognizes who is in charge in the room.
Kate points the weapon at the orderly, who stops in his tracks. She then tracks it away from the first orderly to the second and third orderlies who are trying to make their way to the door.
"Uh uh uh," she warns, now pointing the weapon at both, then glancing back to the first orderly. "No one is leaving here until I get some answers. And boys, trust me, I am tired. I am pissed. You do not want to screw with me right now."
Seeing the acquiescence in their eyes and body language, Kate returns her attentions to the now very-frightened Dr. Chen.
"Now. Talk," she tells the doctor, loosening her grip but keeping her hand around the doctor's neck.
"What can I say?" Dr. Chen begins, her voice raspy from the slight pressure of Kate Beckett's fingers.
"It is as I told you. I was at the nursing station, reviewing charts with the staff when we heard the alerts on the monitors, indicating a change in blood pressure and breathing for Mr. Castle as he was coming back from sedation. Knowing that should not be happening, I ran to his room here, where I saw him begin to sit up. I immediately pushed the call button, to call for help."
"Which is when we came in from other parts of the floor," the first orderly responds. He is a tall man, roughly six feet and three inches with short blond cropped hair.
As he speaks, the handle on the door turns, as Dr. Teresa Argento attempts to gain access into the room. She is stopped by a fiery redhead holding a small canister of mace spray. Kate has to smile at Alexis' actually following her father's instructions to always carry the small spray, and to have the presence of mind to decide that now might be a good time to use it. Or at least threaten to use it.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Dr. Argento exclaims, taking two quick steps backward, back into the hallway.
"It's okay, Alexis," Kate tells her with a nod. "She's good. In fact, I was going to have someone call her in a few minutes anyway. Better she is here now. Get in here, Doctor. Now."
Dr. Teresa Argento is not used to taking orders from strangers. Neither is she used to having someone point a gun at her. But most front-and-center in her thinking right now is the way in which one Sam Carlos treated the woman who points a weapon at her. He treated her with respect. With almost a deference, if such a man could do so. She knows that Kate Beckett is not one to cross, if for no other reason than it would get back to Carlos.
She makes up her mind quickly, and steps into the room. Alexis closes the door behind her, but never stops pointing the small mace spray at the Chief of Staff of the hospital.
"What's going on here?" Argento demands, trying to take charge of the situation, even with a gun at her head. She focuses her attention on Dr. Chen, who still has Kate Beckett's hand around her throat.
"Sandy called me and told me to get down here right away," Argento begins. "Now someone tell me what is happening."
"My question first," Kate counters. "Who is Sandy?"
"Head nurse at the nurse station down the hall," Dr. Chen replies for the room.
Okay, this makes sense. Kate nods her head in acceptance.
"Answer the doctor," she tells Dr. Chen.
Doctor Chen repeats her story – now for the third time. She tells how she was charting with the nurses at the station when the monitors indicated a change in Richard Castle's room. When she got to the room, she found the patient groggy but awake, and frightened.
"That's no surprise," Dr. Argento states. "Each time Mr. Castle awakes he has no memory of what has happened, because of the drug inside him. So, who knows what his memories are now, as he awakens from sedation? We don't know. But why is he – or why was he awake in the first place?" she asks, noticing that the patient is – in fact – sound asleep.
"Someone turned off the sedation meds," Dr. Chen replies.
"Someone?" Dr. Argento asks, her eyes raised with suspicion. Kate Beckett nods her head at the Chief of Staff's reaction.
"We don't know who?" she asks.
"No, not at this time," Dr. Chen answers. "To tell the truth, we haven't even given that much thought yet. Our first priority was to stabilize the patient, then get him under again."
Dr. Argento nods in agreement with this, but one glance at Kate Beckett and her mace-carrying ally tells her that this answer satisfies neither of these women.
"How is our patient now," Argento asks, making up her mind as to her course of action. She knows she will have to report this to Carlos. Carlos will want answers, not questions.
"He is stable now, as you can see," Dr. Chen replies.
"Good," Argento tells her. "Miss Beckett, please release Dr. Chen and put your weapon down. I understand your concern, and frustration – and believe me, I share them. My relationship with our mutual friend who is not in this room should be proof of this."
She lets her words sink into the former NYPD detective, who nods reluctantly, and releases her grip on the woman's neck. She bends, replacing her weapon in her ankle holster.
"How did you get in here with a weapon anyway," she wonders aloud, then dismisses the thought, and continues her plan of action.
"Miss Beckett, Mr. Castle is safe now," Argento continues. "If you would, please accompany me upstairs. There is surveillance throughout this hospital. Normally such private patient information is protected for patient privilege. That said, since I know you are the power-of-attorney for Mr. Castle, I think it is sufficient for you to view what happened in his room."
"That's legal?" Kate asks.
"The papers you signed when we admitted Mr. Castle indicated your acceptance of us putting him in a room which might have surveillance."
"I signed a lot of papers," Kate states warily.
"And it is good that you did," Argento tells her. "Because now it may give us the clue that we need to understand who attacked Mr. Castle."
"I'm not leaving him!" Kate exclaims. "The last time I left, not even for a few hours, look what happened. I'm not leaving until our security gets here."
"Your security?" Dr. Argento asks.
"Alexis, do me a favor," Kate tells the younger woman, ignoring Dr. Argento as she tosses the redhead her cell phone. Look in my contacts – pull up Jennifer. Call her. Let her know what happened."
She then turns her attention back to Argento as Alexis searches Kate's phone for Detective Jennifer Blackard's number.
"Yes, our security team is on the way here," Kate tells the woman. "I am not taking any more chances with sloppy accidents and security lapses here. Not when his life is at stake," she continues, pointing her thumb back to the patient in the bed.
"When she gets here, I will go with you," Kate concludes.
"She?" Argento asks.
"My security team," Kate replies.
"Your security is one person?" Argento asks, almost chuckling in disbelief.
"Believe me, Doctor," Kate smiles evenly. "She's all I need."
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Sunday – 1:15 p.m., April 1, 2012, in Silicon Valley, at a diner off Highway 101 South
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Sam Carlos sits in the IHOP restaurant, staring at the menu. He already knows what he wants. He gets the same thing every time he comes to this particular chain. Yet every time, he also scours the menu, curious if there is anything new he might want to try.
His chirping phone interrupts him. He glances at his watch, noting the time. Sooner than he would expect a call from this man. He frowns as he answers.
"Willie, what can I do for you?" Sam Carlos asks, his cell phone placed against his ear as he considers the menu in his other hand. He sits at the window, staring outside at the traffic on the freeway roughly two hundred yards away.
"Just got a call, Mr. Carlos," Willie tells him. "Just got off the phone with Detective Blackard."
"And what does Jennifer have to say?" Carlos asks, smiling in spite of himself.
"She said that it appears someone tried to kill Mr. Castle," Crockett tells him. He cannot see Sam Carlos place the menu on the table, his eyes darkening.
"Do tell," Carlos replies.
"Understand, sir, everything I am telling you is third-hand," Crockett begins. "I am telling you what Detective Blackard told me, and her information was second-hand from Kate Beckett, who got her information from the hospital staff."
Crockett cannot see Sam Carlos nod his head in agreement. He appreciates the police background of the one man on the planet who he truly trusts. The procedural way that Crockett presents things always clarifies questions before they arise.
"The detective dropped off your friend, Miss Beckett and Mr. Castle's daughter at the hospital after they dropped me off," Crockett continues. "Evidently, once there, they noticed some commotion outside Mr. Castle's room. When Miss Beckett walks into the room – again, according to Detective Blackard – Mr. Castle is awake, and being restrained by orderlies."
"Awake?" Carlos asks.
"Yes," Crockett replies. "According to the Detective, and according to Miss Beckett, someone turned off the IV meds keeping Mr. Castle in la-la land."
"Hmmm," his companion on the phone hums, the fingers on his free hand playing the table like a piano.
"As of now, Miss Beckett is waiting for security from Sausalito to get to the hospital. Then the plan is for her to review surveillance footage with the Chief of Staff there."
"That would make sense that Teresa would think of that," Carlos agrees. "I assume they have re-sedated Mr. Castle?"
"Yes, sir," Crockett replies.
"Okay, thank you Willie," Carlos tells him, glancing at his watch. "It appears that someone still has it in for Mr. Castle. Perhaps we shall need to be a bit more . . . forthcoming in our efforts to dissuade that."
"Just say the word, sir," Crockett tells his boss. He sucks in the entire toothpick, now chewing the small pointed item quickly into smaller pieces and swallowing the remnants.
"Two things," Carlos tells him. "First, call Junior Boy. Get him over to the hospital as soon as possible. This is important."
"You expect trouble that Mr. Castle's team can't handle?" Crockett asks, the surprise evident in his voice.
"On the contrary, I anticipate his security team can handle anything anyone can throw at them – including us, my friend," Sam Carlos replies. "However, time is of the essence. Junior Boy is likely near the Wharf right now, while Mr. Castle's team is coming from across the bridge. I just want someone there. I think we will get to him first."
"Gotcha," Crockett agrees. Before he can continue, Carlos interrupts him.
"And Willie," Carlos continues. "Tell Junior Boy not to engage Mr. Castle's team. Under no circumstances. You know what they are capable of. You saw that weeks ago during the attack on his complex. Especially the woman. I don't want to lose any valuable men.
"Understood," Crockett tells him. "And second?"
"Ah yes. Second. Pay a visit to our friend, the city councilman, Willie," Carlos tells him. "I want him. And his wife. Take them to the safe house at the Presidio. Keep them there until I arrive."
"Will do," his second-in-command replies. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do now?"
"Not at all, my friend," Carlos tells him. "I am minutes away from NuGenetix. Unfortunately, the fact that that Barry is still gunning for Mr. Castle means that we don't control all the cards. So, we are going to have to take the antidote – in whatever form it may be at this point – and get it to our friend. I will take care of that . . . and then take care of our little city hall problem once I return."
Carlos disconnects the call. It is only now that he notices the short, young woman with an ordering pad standing at his table.
"Can I get you something to eat, sir?" she asks with a bright smile. He returns the smile, gazing out at the freeway, considering his options for lunch. Castle is sedated. And Kate is with him, with two security teams on the way. He will be fine. The Councilman will be taken off the playing field shortly, he has no doubt. Willie Crockett has never failed him. And Jennifer, he knows, is safe.
He glances at his watch. Eating will take another half hour to forty-five minutes. Maybe an hour. Maybe that extra time will be what it takes to get a better antidote in his hands. Because come hell or high water, he is giving this antidote to Richard Castle this evening.
"As a matter of fact, yes you can, my dear," he replies agreeably to the waitress, who smiles as she takes his order.
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Still Sunday – Now 1:54 p.m., April 1, 2012, back at the San Francisco Chinese Hospital in Chinatown
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Kate Beckett frowns, as she stares at the sleeping form of Richard Castle next to her. She sits in the chair, bedside. She wants to stand and stretch, but does not want to release his hand, or wake him. The second thought brings a chuckle as she knows he is out cold. Yet, this bedside vigil is becoming too familiar, occurring too often. She pinches the bridge of her nose as exhaustion begins to set in once again.
Across the bed from her, Alexis Castle holds the other hand of her father with her two small hands, her face still stained with tears as she sees the man she considers so strong . . . Daddy . . . lying peacefully but so vulnerable.
Dr. Argento sits at the foot of the bed, facing the patient. Everyone else – including Dr. Chen – has been ordered out of the room. Until she sees what is on the video surveillance, she doesn't know who to trust in the hospital. And Kate Beckett made it very clear that she prefers the Chief of Staff not leave until Lindy Matthews arrives.
The door to the patient room opens silently, after a single knock. Unusual in itself.
Dr. Argento glances back at the doorway, and quickly – with fear in her eyes – makes the mark of the cross across her chest as she takes in the sight of the six-foot, five-inch Filipino man wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap. Weighing almost two hundred and seventy pounds, he is an imposing figure to behold. Yeah, she knows him. She also knows that this man is never dispatched to talk.
He nods and smiles at the doctor.
Kate Beckett stands quickly, reaching down and pulling her weapon from its place at her ankle and pointing it at the large man in one fluid motion.
"Easy Miss Beckett," Junior Boy drawls, not concerned in the least with the weapon facing him.
"Mr. Carlos sent me here for your protection until your team arrives."
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A/N: A few more chapters and we are finished here. I hope everyone is safe and sound. As I write this, it is 1:15 in the morning, and Life Flight just landed across the street from our house. Never a good sign. I am hoping everyone in our neighborhood is okay. Thanks for the reviews and the direct messages – I enjoy hearing from all of you.